disneyfandomcom-20200223-history
Oliver
Oliver & Company is a 1988 animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988. The twenty-seventh animated feature released in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution, and inspired by the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. This adaptation of the story is about a homeless kitten named Oliver who joins a gang of dogs to survive on the 1980s New York City streets. In this version, Oliver is a cat and Fagin's gang is made up of dogs, one of which is Dodger. After Dumbo (1941), Bambi (1942), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) and The Rescuers, this is Disney's fifth animated feature to take place in the present day of its release, using New York City as its setting. The film was re-released in the USA, Canada, and the UK on March 29, 1996. Plot Oliver, an orange kitten, is lost in the streets. He steals some hot dogs from a hot dog vendor with the help of a mongrel named Dodger. Together they are successful, but Dodger runs off, attempting to leave the orphaned feline behind. Dodger eventually arrives at the barge of his owner, a petty criminal named Fagin, along with his meal, to share with his friends: Tito the Chihuahua, Einstein the Great Dane, Rita the Saluki and Francis (Frankie), the Bulldog. Oliver sneaks into their home, located below the city's docks, and is discovered by the dogs. Fagin, owner of the dogs, comes in and explains that he is running out of time to repay the money he borrowed from Sykes, a shipyard agent and ruthless loan shark. Sykes and his Doberman Pinschers, Roscoe and DeSoto, arrive. While DeSoto is sniffing around the barge, Roscoe flirts with Rita, and smashes the television. He then goads the protective Einstein to let the angry but tiny Tito attack him, when DeSoto finds Oliver. The terrified kitten scratches his nose and both Roscoe and Desoto intend to tear him apart when the dog gang gets between them. Before further violence can ensue, Sykes calls his dogs back to his car, and they leave while making threats towards the gang and Oliver. After this, a soaking wet Fagin returns to the barge, lamenting that he has only three days to find the money he owes Sykes. He discovers Oliver and, considering that they all need help, accepts him into the gang. Next day, Fagin sets out into the city with his canine menagerie, Oliver included, and tries to sell his wares at a pawn shop, with no success. The animals, meanwhile, come face-to-face with a limousine driven by a butler named Winston. Winston is employed by the Foxworth family and is taking care of their daughter Jenny while the couple is out of the country. The dogs stage an elaborate ruse in order to get Winston out of the car. Tito and Oliver slip in and attempt to steal its radio to give to Fagin so that he'll have something to pawn to pay back Sykes. In doing so, Tito gets shocked by the electrical system, and Jenny finds Oliver tangled up in the wires near it. Oliver finds a good home and a caring owner in Jenny, to the chagrin of Winston and the Foxworth's pampered, pedigreed poodle, Georgette. The next day Fagin's dogs go to Jenny's house. After some initial disputes, Georgette is very happy that they are there to collect Oliver, and helps them take him back, convincing them that he's been traumatised by the whole experience and wants to go back to them. When Oliver is taken back, Fagin sees Oliver's new golden tag and the wealthy district he got it from, and sends Jenny a map and a letter requesting "lots and lots of money" as a ransom. Fagin then goes to convince Sykes that his plan is air-tight enough to pay him his money. Jenny receives the letter and takes Georgette with her to go and get Oliver back, but Fagin's poorly drawn map leaves them both totally lost, although they do unknowingly arrive at their destination. Being distraught that his "wealthy cat-owner" is just a little girl with her piggy-bank, Fagin decides that he might as well return Oliver to her, and pretends to find him in a dumpster. However Sykes kidnaps Jenny, intending to hold her for ransom to her wealthy parents, and tells Fagin that their account is closed. Fagin, who was not expecting Sykes to use him to perform an actual kidnapping, takes his dogs and Georgette to Sykes' shipyard to rescue Jenny, which the dogs, with Oliver's help manage to do. However an enraged Sykes and his Dobermans chase them down the city streets and into the subway in his car. Roscoe and DeSoto are both thrown onto the tracks in their fight with Dodger, and presumably killed. Jenny is thrown onto the hood of Sykes' car and Fagin tries to snatch her back while the dogs drive. They emerge onto the Manhattan Bridge, where Sykes' car collides with a train and he is killed. Tito manages to steer Fagin's vehicle onto one of the Manhattan Bridge's cables and they emerge unscathed. The next morning, Fagin and the entire group celebrate Jenny's birthday party at her home. That same day, Winston receives a phone call from Jenny's parents in Rome saying that they will be back tomorrow, apparently earlier than expected. Fagin and his dog gang finally drive into the streets to make a new start. Characters * Oliver, voiced by Joey Lawrence, is the protagonist of the film, and an orange kitten who wants a home. He joins Fagin's gang of dogs before being taken in by Jenny. He also saves her life from the black-hearted loan-shark, Sykes. * Dodger, voiced by Billy Joel, is a carefree, charismatic mongrel with a mix of terrier in him. He claims to have considerable "street savoir-faire". He is the leader of Fagin's gang of dogs, and becomes Oliver's closest friend amongst them. * Fagin, voiced by Dom DeLuise, is an exceedingly poor man who lives on a house-boat with his dogs. He desperately needs money to repay his debt with Sykes. Because of his economic situation, he is forced to perform criminal acts such as pick-pocketing and petty theft, but in truth he has a heart of gold. * Jennifer "Jenny" Foxworth, voiced by Natalie Gregory (singing voice by Myhanh Tran), is a kind, rich girl who takes care of Oliver. * Bill Sykes, voiced by Robert Loggia, is the main antagonist of the film, and is a cold-hearted, immoral loan-shark who lent a considerable sum of money to Fagin and expects it paid back. * Ignacio Alonzo Julio Federico de Tito, voiced by Cheech Marin, simply known as Tito, is a tiny Chihuahua in Fagin's gang. He has a fiery temper for his size, and rapidly develops a crush on Georgette (although she is initially repulsed by him). * Georgette, voiced by Bette Midler, is the Foxworth family's spoiled prize-winning Poodle, who is jealous of Oliver getting attention. When Tito displays his attraction to her, she initially responds with revulsion. At the end, however, she displays considerable attraction to Tito - so much, in fact that she sends him running for his life when she tries to bathe, dress and groom him. * Einstein, voiced by Richard Mulligan, is a gray Great Dane in Fagin's gang, representing the stereotype that Great Danes are friendly, but dumb. * Francis, voiced by Roscoe Lee Browne, is a bulldog with a British accent in Fagin's gang. He appreciates art and theatre, and detests anyone abbreviating his name as "Frank" or "Frankie." * Rita, voiced by Sheryl Lee Ralph (singing voice by Ruth Pointer), is a Saluki, and the only female dog in Fagin's gang. * Roscoe and DeSoto, voiced by Taurean Blacque and Carl Weintraub respectively, are Sykes's vicious Doberman Pinschers, and seem to have a long rivalry with Dodger and his friends. Roscoe is the apparent leader, while his brother DeSoto seems to be the more savage of the two. Both of them are killed in the climax by falling onto the electric rail tracks whilst fighting with Dodger. (Roscoe Blvd. and DeSoto Ave. are major streets in the San Fernando Valley, several miles from Walt Disney Studios.) * Winston, voiced by William Glover, is the Foxworth family's bumbling but loyal butler. * Louie, voiced by Frank Welker, is a bad-tempered hot dog vendor, who appears early in the film where Oliver and Dodger steal his hot dogs. He is meant to be one of the 'enemies of the four-legged world', meaning that he hates both cats and dogs. Trivia * The working title of this film during production was Oliver and the Dodger. * At one, this film was to be set after The Rescuers. If this had happened, it would have given the character of Penny more development, showing her living her new life in New York City with Georgette, as well as her new adoptive parents. This idea was eventually scrapped because the producers had then felt that the story would not have been convincing. This is why Penny and Jenny are similar. * This was the first Disney movie to make heavy use of computer animation. The CGI effects were used for making the skyscrapers, the cars, trains, Fagin's scooter-cart and the climactic Subway chase. * This was the first animated Disney film to include real world advertised products. Many placements of real product names Coca-Cola, USA Today, Sony, and Ryder Truck Rental were some of the most used examples. * Certain animals shown in the film are from past Disney films. When Dodger sings Why Should I Worry? in the beginning of the film, some of the dogs shown are Peg, Jock and Trusty from Lady and the Tramp and Pongo from One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Category:1988 films Category:Animated films Category:Disney animated features canon Category:Films about dogs Category:Films about cats Category:Films about animals Category:Films set in New York City